Already Dead
by Raynor Zeraph
Summary: Too many have died. The Doctors plans for his own glory and power have claimed so many lives, and taken so much from Quote. He has to be stopped. He has to suffer for what he's done. A decent bit violent, and a bit swear-y for the length of it. Oneshot, finished.
This is more my pace. I enjoy tragedy, and I just had to get something angsty and tragic out. I like how it turned out, but I'm not completely sure about this one. I messed with it for a while after finishing it today, and decided I would much rather post something and get feedback on it than continue digging around in the small things I keep finding issue with. I hope you enjoy it! It's a little on the darker side, and there's a decent amount of swearing for how short it is, but I don't think it's ever unnecessary, given the way the story goes.

Quote stood over the bloodied mess of a man on the ground. Blood ran along the floor from a deep gash on his face, a frail breath whispering through his lips. He was still alive, and conscious. Quote had held back just enough to ensure that. He hadn't been completely unhurt In the fight, but the proportional damage made it apparent that the fight had always been rather one-sided.

The robot boy scoffs and then grins menacingly at the man. "All of the power you have, and i didn't even need a weapon... he lowers himself so that his face is nearly at eye level to him before he continues. "You really are a weak man, aren't you? For all of your boasting, and planning, and grasping for greatness... you never even had a chance."

He rolls the heaped body over, eliciting a stifled groan as he struggles to make noise. "You're going to suffer, Doctor... You're going to suffer so very greatly for what you've done. You're going to suffer for Toroko." Memories of the young mimiga float in his mind. Their first meeting, as brief as it was, had been comical. There had not been time to know her, and this animal at his feet had been the end of the child, forcing Quote to murder her by his own hands. He grabs the man by the shoulders of his labcoat and lifts him up, then throws him across the floor. leaving a streak of blood behind his body's movement. A strangled cry of pain barely escapes, his already broken bones twisting cruelly under his skin.

Quote slowly walks to where the body comes to rest, watching to make sure he's still awake as he approaches him. "You don't know suffering, boy!" The doctor gargles out a short cackle, quickly turning into a fit of coughing as the robot jerks him back to his to his feet, focusing all his willpower on not crushing the man's skull right then and there.

"This... This is for the Colons!" he remembers, briefly, the tiny mimiga orphans, and the resilience they had in the face of a threat. Even when they must have known that they would fail, they fought for each other. A tear begins to form in his eye, but he blinks it back, drawing his fist back and pummeling him in the torso several times before throwing him up into the ceiling, catching him as he falls back towards the floor.

"This... is for Curly..." The words don't want to come, any more. his voice falters as he says her name, and his mind plays through images of the last time he saw her.

The Core had been defeated, just barely. she was badly injured, and his legs were barely functioning as the room filled up, once more, with the cold water. It didn't drain though... not this time... And after several panic-filled minutes, Quote had given into his fate, and went to look at her one last time as he faded out of consciousness.

But then he could breathe. And it was terrifying to him. He opened his eyes, slowly, and saw her body, drifting down from the ledge as the currents moved her body back and forth in their grip. She had sacrificed herself for him... and it was HIS fault. They shouldn't have even been down there!

Fuck him! Fuck the doctor, Fuck Misery, Fuck this god damned island! A sickening crack against his hand brought him back to what he was doing; he saw his fist driven straight through the doctor's head, and a large crack running through the pillar behind that he had just been smashing his fist into. He slowly pulled it back through the pulpy mess, letting the man's body drop to the floor.

And the boy's body followed. He dropped to the ground, and cried He cried for everyone; Toroko, the Colons, King, Curly, and the others that he hadn't even met... and hadn't been able to save. He cried for himself, And the loneliness he had only just begun to feel. But there was still a job to do. He made himself stand. He absent mindedly rose and brought himself to the uppermost floor, and looked into the darkness that looked back.

It was then that he realized that it was, indeed, looking back at him. a hideous red face, in the shell of the core, that nearly drove him to madness the moment he sees it. There was Sue... still alive, curled up on the floor just underneath it. "You thought... you had won... you thought you could defeat... ME?!" The Doctor's voice resonated in his mind.

And then, the worst thing happened. That damned red crystal appeared from nowhere, and circled around the tiny mimiga, a weak cry for help drowned out by Quote's anguished shout as the change began. Her fur stood on end as the muscles underneath shuddered, growing vastly in size as Sue continues the transformation into a beast, and Quote crumples to his knees.

Fury fills the robot as he looks to the twisted red visage in front of him. "You Bastard... I will end you, if its the last thing it do..." A savage growl crosses the room as Sue lifts herself up, drool frothing past sharp teeth, red-tinted eyes locked onto Quote for only a moment before shrieking and pouncing. "I won't fight you!" Too many have died by his hand. Too many lives lost. He had already killed Toroko. He would not... He could not do it again.

Quote jumps over the enraged mimiga as it dives at him, kicking her in the back and sending her to the ground as he pulls out the polar star and takes another leap forward towards the core, steam and red mist wafting from the opening in front. he sends blasts into the warped, hybrid face of the Doctor and core, a low growl shaking inside of the robot's mind as he draws King's sword.

The core's growl grows louder as the mouth swings open, a white light glowing from the chambers inside, and Quote dives to the ground just in time to avoid the three massive blasts that shoot out. He rolls and jumps to his feet, but takes a powerful swipe to the face and is flung back to the ground by Sue. he brings his sword up, using the side to block the barrage that follows, struggling to repel the furious mimiga's assault.

The enraged girl's strength and speed are too much for him; he can avoid, and block the assault, but sooner or later he'll make a mistake, and he can't take care of the core while she has him so preoccupied. he uses the back of the sword and takes three lightning fast swings into her torso, first knocking her back, then lifting her into the air, then smashing her into the ground towards the far wall. Another low hum builds behind him, but he turns to face it too late. As he throws himself away, the first of the blasts rips across his left arm, nearly tearing it off as the rubber skin vaporizes instantly. The blade flies away and hits the wall, white hot and warped.

Quote falls to his knees, screaming in pain as he loses function in his arm. He rises back up, and is just as quickly knocked to the ground, his vision fading for a moment as his head bounces of the stone floor. He rolls, his good arm rising to Sue's throat to keep her jaws away from his face, struggling with the strength of her frenzied form. blood drips onto him from her injuries, and he allows a glance to the core as it angles itself slowly towards him.

"No... I won't... I can't..." As if by response, Sue swipes her claws at him, catching on his left shoulder and severing it the rest of the way. Quote shouts in pain as sparks shoot from where his arm was a moment ago, a pool of reddish oil oozing onto the ground before the damage seals itself off. "Fuck!" He uses his right arm to throw Sue into the air before picking up his polar star and blasting her in the legs, slowing her down just enough for him to dodge another volley of blasts. He slides to a stop, and manages to dodge a quick barrage of swipes to his face and chest, blasting her again and again in the legs, trying to stop her before the damage becomes too much for her body to handle. He hopes it isn't already too much, as her attacks become slower. blood drenches the fur that isn't burnt from her legs as he uses her own weight to throw the savage to the wall, where the defeated mimiga slumps, and a small pool of blood forms underneath.

Another hum, another dive, another volley of white-hot energy, and Quote knows that this needs to end _now._ He charges the Doctor, blasting away at the thin shell protecting the inner mechanisms until he sees a small breach, and rams his gun into it, firing away until the gun overheats and explodes in his hand, a disembodied shriek echoing in the air as smoke and fire pour from the crater he had just made. "Die, you monster!" Laughter begins, starting as an almost impossible to hear whisper, and growing to a maniacal cackle that surrounds him. "I may be dying, but you are already dead, dear boy!" An explosion rocks the room, and the shaking begins. "You will not leave here alive. No, you died long ago by my hands..." Tiles begin to fall from the ceiling as Quote runs to the reverting Sue, throwing her over his shoulder before taking one last look at the dying core. "You are already dead...! Hahahahaha! You were already dead before you even realized!" He jumps down, and leaves the voice... leaves the Doctor to his insane musings as a final explosion rocks the temple as it crumbles faster and faster.

Quote dashes out, the temple nearly crumbling on top of him as he continues to run, bounding and sidestepping debris as it ricochets off the ground, and quickly makes it to a safe distance, about twenty meters from the helicopter whose blades have just begun to rotate. He takes one last glance behind him before walking to the bay door of the transport, setting Sue down on the ground, and pulling himself in, surrounded by the Sakamotos, mimiga survivors, and Itoh...

It is now that the loneliness... the feelings of loss, and failure begin to bubble to the surface. His mission is done... but he can't consider it a success. So many that he knew died. So many of his friends gone. He looks to the tiny Mimiga as Momorin cradles her immobile body to her chest, wailing as Kazuma sets a hand on his mother's shoulder, and Quote already knows that she will not survive her injuries. Even as he comforts his mother, Kazuma's eyes are on Quote. A look of sadness, mixed with pity, and a sliver of hatred all contained in his gaze, and he averts his gaze back to his dying sister.

The helicopter lifts off the ground, shakily, with Itoh at the controls. The small number of survivors soar into the air, and hover for about an hour, watching the slow descent of the island into the ground. And then they go, towards the endless horizon... but they will all look back. At their home, their refuge, their family... and their failures.


End file.
